BMXs are only good if you are not a lanky person. I bought one for use on the loal skate park, but it was pretty much impossible to get on with (i'm 6'5"). I should have bought something like an Identity Dr. Jekyll or a cheap Saracen jump bike instead.

Back to London though. I used to love trying to beat people between stations when on my bike. You get to see so much more of the capital that way and it's a lot more fun, even if the dispatch riders swear at you for stopping at red lights. Kings Cross to Victoria is awesome.

Rivierabike do a cracking descent to a lunch stop.
The trail ends, a mile of road, then these stunning Italian alleys. Steep steps covered by tunnel archways and weaving and dropping between houses. All in beautiful golden brick that looked 700 years old.
Pretty sweet.

urban routes rule. esp. in the winter in the dark. Nothing quite like a singletrack buzz in solitude and darkness followed in short succession by passing the busy chippy, kebab shops and folk about the town

It has been known for a group of 15 or so to hit the car parks, parks, alleys, steps, paddling pools, streams, bridges and underpasses of Basingstoke. With some single track thrown in for good measure.

i have a few urban routes i follow from work to home. I'm always looking for new stuff to ride in burnley that will improve my technique on the trails. as my ride home tends to be my training run. so far i ride steep canal tow paths, steps, sloping subways. you are only limited by your own imagination with urban riding.

We do a nice mix of urban and singletrack here in Wellington, i have been meaning to document one of them. We have a loop we do which takes in the delights of some splendid urban features and runs with lush singletrack in the cities hills. I'll get onto it next time we head that way.

Living in the Yorkshire Dales I only have 2 steps out of the garden, drop off the kerb then short Tarmac dash to the field which leads on to a bridleway! Followed by a track up through the woods up on to moor tops.

However back in the day I stayed with some mates at Liverpool in their Uni days, home made shore on the flat roof followed by 9 flights of stairs to the street- more frantic than an urban loop but still good fun!

I remember there being a load of stair and alley (with bits of woodland) all over durham. I quite liked the stairs all over the park behind the station, then dropping from the station to the riverside.
Cheeky stuff through between the uni resisdence buildings was good too.

North Shore in the back garden?
Field at the back count?
Got a 5-ish metre drop mini 'bike park' of sorts with a load of lines to choose which seem to be always evolving. Berms, wallride, drops, floor-level skinnies, ladder drops, drops, kickers, hips, gaps, rock slabs and roll downs, all quite small scale as originally built (with digger help) around XC/trail bikes. Seems to gettign bigger as bikes have got bigger
Got pics somewhere?

Used to have a few downhill routes that were pretty much tarmac through the colleges of Durham University. Mary's was a favourite. Made more fun by the fact you had to be fast and not crash as you didn't want to be caught. Neil of SSC showed me the way...

Now live in Newcastle and there's plenty of urban riding using the hill to the quayside offers plenty of stairs and drops. Good for extending the commute, a quick blast on an evening or staying clean in winter while still doing a bit of riding.

Some of our club rides occasionally stay urban but steep stairs aren't all that friendly to beginners and if you miss them out and the drops then it isn't as exciting.

My favourite at the minute is the high level walkway around the library and the spiral staircase outside the Liang gallery

Our weekday club rides are mostly joining up the local woods with urban stuff thrown in
A lot of the rides are geared around endi g up in the city centre for a play on the cathedral/uni steps, bridges and subways
If you can avoid the chavs and drunks your doing well and the diners in Nandos get a good show when someone bins it at the bottoms of the stairs

"Mary's was a favourite. Made more fun by the fact you had to be fast and not crash as you didn't want to be caught"
I think every other club ride when I was there must have started through marys without a hitch, though as you say we didnt hang about ..
It was Josephone Butlers Mound (down the side) we got chased off for, and dropping off the garden borders in Hild Bede we got told to move on

When I used to live in the Midlands there was plenty of urban riding from:
toxic waste tips with a sulpherous smell between the M54 and the canal was full of doubles drops and chutes
Dudley Castle
Wolverhampton 21 locks is a great canal ride - not at all flat - same goes for bits around Dudley/Brierly Hill
canal network into Brum - and the bit round Spagehtti junction is interesting
darting through shopping centres and riding escalators being chased by security guards is fun
subway steps assaults, alleyways, ramps and drop offs are always good on the commute

Living up north now so have real countryside and the need to hit the concrete and towpath is less pressing. But a quick pedal up to Lancaster Castle and down the steps or down the steep field and jumps is a good test route for any bike fettling for me.

Another shout for Edinburghs facilities, particularly Carlton Hill down to London Rd. via whatever the long steps. Ooh and actually, Castle Hill to the gardens orArthur's Seat to the pond is good for summer-dawn-pre-tourist shenanigans.
I think it counts as urban cause it's in the middle of the city innit. All the Closes & Wynds off the Royal Mile to the Cowgate are also excellent but must be done pre-tourists-time. I don't expect miracles but stop photographing my fail.

In fact, its one that inspired me to grab my hardtail and head out into town yesterday evening. Was only riding for just under an hour, but what a revelation. For some reason, I found there was a more frenzied feel to my riding, as I tried to make the absolute most of anything fun I found.

I did find some fun too - a cheeky piece of slightly downhill concrete singletrack with some flow, loads of steps off the sea wall, short but sweet singletrack through the park, drops, as well as the parts I'd already spotted, like the mini-pump track.

I live in a small, flat coastal town but I only covered about 20% of it. The two quotes that stick in my mind from this thread are the ones about knowing your area intimitely and your only limit being your imagination. I love that, and the idea of applying them to my town.

Its not my local woods, of course, but there's a different kind of riding available that potentially provides just as much of a buzz imo. Especially when its pouring down and I need a fix.

I'm in York and if I ride to work on the hardtail I string together bits and pieces of trails and stuff to make it a bit more interesting. I keep meaning to work out exactly how much of it is strictly legal and how much a touch cheeky for my own interest. But there's a nice bit of singletrack going into the city from the minnellium bridge which is good fun of a morning.

I did once ride down a set of stairs which go over the freight line which were a touch steeper than I anticipated.